


The Last Archangel: A Different Face

by inukagome15



Series: The Last Archangel AU [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aromantic, Asexual Character, BAMF Gabriel (Supernatural), BAMF James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Crossover, Friendship, Gabriel (Supernatural) is James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Gabriel Lives (Supernatural: Hammer of the Gods), Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Protective Gabriel (Supernatural), Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Queerplatonic Relationships, Supernatural Elements, What-If, i reserve rights to change tags in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inukagome15/pseuds/inukagome15
Summary: What if Rhodey was Gabriel?Rhodey didn't expect any of this when he was looking for his best friend in Afghanistan. But it happened, and now Gabriel has questions. A world with no Heaven, no Hell, and no angels, what is his purpose?
Relationships: Gabriel (Supernatural) & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Series: The Last Archangel AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066088
Comments: 29
Kudos: 88





	The Last Archangel: A Different Face

**Author's Note:**

> An anon on tumblr prompted this, so uh... I have ideas. A lot of ideas.  
> I am not entirely sure what's going to happen with the relationship at this point, but it's the reason I've tagged for queerplatonic relationships.
> 
> In any case, this covers the first Iron Man movie. I expect to do Iron Man 2 at some point, too.

Fuck Afghanistan so hard. The sand, the heat, the sun, the endless expanse of desert with no sign of his best friend. Just…fuck everything.

Rhodey wished he’d never let Tony push him away. Maybe then they’d still be together and he wouldn’t be pulling on every last favor and then some to find Tony and bring him home because his best friend _wasn’t dead_.

Only wishes wouldn’t get him anywhere and right now he had to _find_ Tony and make sure to _never let him go_ because this was not happening. It wasn’t. Tony was an asshole and inconsiderate and abrasive but he was also _Rhodey’s_. He was Rhodey’s and Rhodey refused to lose him to a terrorist attack.

So three months later and Rhodey was scouring the desert for him and pulling every last favor he had because he was not leaving his best friend to die in the middle of the Afghanistan desert.

If pressed, Rhodey couldn’t even tell you why he was so convinced Tony was still alive. It wasn’t just because they were ride or die best friends and because he knew Tony would do the same for him. It was something deep in the core of him that hummed _he’s alive he’s alive he’s alive_ like a heartbeat or his own thoughts whispering in the back of his too silent head.

He only ever had his thoughts in the back of his head, so it should be quiet.

Rhodey shook away the ridiculous thought like he had every other time it hit him. It made no sense and so Rhodey shoved it away in a corner to forget about.

Afghanistan itself was strange – had always been strange – tugging on something deep within Rhodey like there was somewhere he had to be. He’d ignored it before, but now, three months later, he didn’t. What if it led him to Tony?

So Rhodey had the pilot this time go in the direction of the tugging. It wasn’t in an area they’d searched before, so there were no protests as they changed directions today. And when they came to the most unbelievable sight they’d ever seen in the desert, there were even fewer.

Captain Jones was the second to Rhodey to notice it, calling the others’ attention to the practically miraculous sight.

It made Rhodey feel better that he wasn’t hallucinating the enormous _green_ tree in the middle of a giant sand bowl.

“That’s not normal, is it,” Lieutenant Vegas said after a stunned moment of silence.

No, no, it wasn’t. A tree that green and that large couldn’t exist in the Afghanistan desert. There was too much sun and far too little rain and also _zero soil_.

“Colonel, do we land?” Airman Diego asked, voice remarkably calm.

Rhodey was saying yes before he even realized the word was out. He couldn’t look away from the tree.

There were zero protests from the others, each of them just as curious about the large tree. The helicopter was set down gently at the furthest edge of the sand bowl, kicking up swaths of sand before the rotors gradually wound down. They all stepped out moments later, though Airman Diego remained inside.

The tugging in Rhodey’s chest was so strong, he almost tripped over the sand trying to get to the tree. The others behind him were saying things but he didn’t register the words beyond the sound. The tree was enormous, almost like the giant redwoods in California but with a canopy that sprawled in a similar way to an oak tree.

The bark wasn’t red but brown. It looked solid, real, even though Rhodey was beginning to feel like absolutely nothing was real. There were noises around him as his companions scattered around the area, investigating the trunk and then also the ground.

Rhodey – Rhodey reached out to _touch_.

The bark was rough and real under his fingers, but that was all Rhodey registered before _energy_ suffused him, filling him to the brim and he _saw_. The void, space, Earth, the sun, the billions of souls on the planet, the life teeming underneath him and all around, and the infinite future stretching ahead because he was Gabriel and he was James Rhodes and he was the Messenger and he was infinity and space and the universe itself and he was _Gabriel_.

He remembered the formation of galaxies, the creation of the Earth, life starting where once there had been none. He remembered the first fish struggling out of water on legs that had never once walked on dry earth. He remembered the birth of humans, the _chaos_ that hit Heaven afterwards because of what their Father had wanted.

He remembered Samael – _Lucifer_ – rebelling because ne refused to follow their Father’s wishes. He remembered Heaven tearing itself apart, then slowly sticking back like broken ceramic pieces and pretending everything was fine when nothing was. He remembered growing so tired of it all and leaving, taking up the mantle of Loki and then the Trickster and then Gabriel once more and then _dying_ at Lucifer’s hands because it wasn’t worth it and screw the apocalypse.

He remembered being born James Rupert Rhodes to Roberta Rhodes and Terrence Rhodes and being the elder brother of Jeanette Rhodes. He remembered constantly feeling _alone_ despite his loving family and wondering and _wondering_ what was wrong with him because everything felt wrong even though it should feel right.

It was still so wrong now. So quiet.

He opened his wings and _flew_ , only to smack right into a block because _Heaven wasn’t there_.

Reeling back, shocked and horrified, he stretched out for anything – anybody – but there was no sound or sign of the Host. There was no sign of Heaven or Hell. There was nothing beyond a giant tree that was all too familiar but this world didn’t reek of Norse magic. It had magic of its own, but it was nothing like what he was familiar with.

He tried once more to reach Heaven, extending for the warmth that he had _always_ felt no matter how cloaked he had been, but it was like hitting a stone wall.

Reflexively, shrinking back, Gabriel landed on Earth – to the planet he had spent millennia on (but not because this wasn’t _that_ planet). He landed on the ground, breathing in too hot air with human lungs and a vessel that felt like a second skin and not a suit his true form had to cram itself into and was somehow still intact despite having suddenly had a full archangel slammed into it.

He stared ahead blankly at the tree, feeling utterly alone and lost in the silence of…everything. Oh, he knew now why things had been so damn quiet in his head even though as a normal human he’d brushed it off as being utterly ridiculous. It wasn’t ridiculous; it was just…

He was _alone_. Heaven wasn’t here. It _wasn’t here_. He couldn’t even sense Hell. He couldn’t sense any of the monsters that populated _his_ world. Even the magic of this world felt different to his senses, so at least it wasn’t an utterly mundane world.

Gabriel shuddered, breathing in more of the too hot air and wondering why he was here. What the hell was he _doing_ here? Alive? When there were no others here? What was the point?

He craned his head back, looking to the green canopy of the tree that had served as the receptacle to his Grace and which still hummed with residual energy. It was never going to die, even out in the middle of the Afghanistan desert.

The desert which Gabriel had been in because – _shit_ , he’d been looking for someone. He was abruptly hit with the acrid taste of fear and grief at the memory of Tony Stark. Oh boy, where had _that_ come from? He wasn’t one to get so attached to humans—

Oh, it was coming from… Damn, this wasn’t normal by stretch of the means, but Gabriel was _attached_. _Rhodey_ was attached. And he was still Rhodey even now, which was so fucking weird because he’d never known any of his formerly Fallen siblings to deal with this.

Okay, okay, this was doable. As a human, he hadn’t had much luck finding his friend, but Gabriel could do it just fine. Easily even.

Gabriel didn’t know if Tony would still want to be his friend considering what had just happened but that didn’t mean he’d leave Tony wandering around…five miles to the north. In the scorching sun. He couldn’t have been doing that long, so that meant Tony had gotten himself out of some sort of captivity.

He had to admire his ingenuity.

Shaking his head slightly, Rhodey turned on his heel to where the helicopter had been standing, only to blink in a stunned sort of horror when he saw that it had been pushed over onto its side, windows shattered and the rotors slightly bent out of shape and melted, like they’d been subjected to an extreme kind of heat.

Oh shit, _oh shit_ , he’d had _humans around him_ —

Gabriel whirled around, looking for the others. He vaguely remembered human memories of them spreading around, some going to the tree to investigate.

There were two bodies lying about thirty feet away, looking like they had been blown back. There was another behind the tree trunk, sprawled on the back. The eyes had been burned out, the sand dyed red with blood around his head, and Vegas’s mouth was open in a silent scream.

Gabriel didn’t need to look to the helicopter to know that Diego was just as dead as the other three, albeit inside the vehicle.

He closed his eyes, guilt and a small bit of grief twisting through him. It wasn’t his fault – he’d had no idea as a normal human what would have been the result of touching that tree – but what a _waste_. He’d known these men. They were good men who’d volunteered to join Rhodey here and help him find Tony. None of them deserved this.

Gabriel crouched down by Vegas’s body, exhaling softly as he looked over to the other two bodies and the helicopter.

He would normally just leave them. Bodies were bodies and the desert would take them soon enough. But…

Even archangels couldn’t undo death so cavalierly. He sensed no reapers here, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a way for Death to know if the natural order was undone.

Gabriel wasn’t exactly natural, but these people were still dead and undoing that on a whim was…inadvisable. It wasn’t like their revival was prophesied.

He checked on the other two bodies because apparently he was a masochist like that. There was nothing he could do but still.

This wasn’t something he would normally worry himself over, but the fact of the matter was… He had ties here. Connections. He didn’t have anywhere else to _go_.

And if he wanted to be human a little longer, then he would have to abide by their norms. Which meant not leaving everything and skedaddling to Pluto. Not that he’d do that anyway because he had a best friend to rescue.

Gabriel ran a hand over the underside of the helicopter, mending it quickly. The instant the helicopter was repaired, the intercom system crackled to life, someone calling for Rhodey’s unit to respond.

Ugh, fuck.

Righting the helicopter quickly, Gabriel muttered a quick and useless apology to Airman Davis’s body and answered the call. There was a report of an explosion not far from their current position, which also tracked with where Gabriel was sensing Tony Stark.

Signing off, Gabriel turned his attention to Davis, who’d been fortunate enough to be in the helicopter but not fortunate enough to escape the blast that had seared his eyeballs out and killed him. He patted Davis on the shoulder, closing his eyes and pushing his Grace into all of the bodies, healing their injuries and giving them all a false semblance of life that would do the job for what he needed before pulling them back to the helicopter.

He couldn’t report back and say they were all dead when he was in one piece and just fine. Or, well, he could, but that’d involve way too much mind whammying and he didn’t want to do that.

Making a face, Rhodey had the reanimated Airman Davis go through the flight protocols and took off, giving his tree one last look before he looked out to where he was going to find Tony.

It didn’t take too long before he saw a small figure trekking across the yellow sand. The figure was also waving and yelling hoarsely, so at least Tony hadn’t gone blind.

Rhodey jumped out of the helicopter when it was close enough to be humanly safe. And then he was hauling Tony into a tight hug, so much relief coursing through him that it was ridiculous.

He didn’t get _attached_ (but he was). He was…too human. And Tony was…his. Tony was _his_.

“You’re riding with me next time,” Rhodey managed, holding Tony’s shaking form in his arms.

There was no snarky response from Tony, just a shaky nod and too ragged breathing. Rhodey held him a little tighter for a bit longer, then ushered him up and to the helicopter so they could head back to base. Tony glanced to the others, expression weary, but Rhodey drew his attention back quickly enough.

Tony wouldn’t really notice anything odd about them but still.

There was a glowing blue circle in the middle of Tony’s chest, and he was radiating pain and…grief. Rhodey sighed, not moving away from him and relieving what pain he could without fully healing him.

The doctors on base gave Tony fluids and some pain medications, but there was nothing they could do about the device in Tony’s chest. Largely because it was nothing they’d seen before and also because Tony refused to let them touch it, using Rhodey as a physical shield at points.

Rhodey let it happen, then spoke to them quietly about letting Tony rest for now and maybe investigating it later once he’d recovered. He had to _push_ at them a little to leave, but then they did and he had some privacy with Tony.

With…the human he was now fiercely attached to. There was nothing else to attach himself to here, so perhaps it wasn’t too surprising?

As a human, he had loved Tony deeply, wanting desperately to protect him even as he also wanted to smack him upside the head for being such an idiot. That love was still there, only now it had distinctly morphed into something else because archangels did not love like humans did.

Tony now had Gabriel as a permanent bodyguard, so he’d better get used to it.

Tony looked too pale and too small in the hospital bed, skin burnt red where it was visible and glistening a little with the ointment that had been applied for pain relief and for soothing the burns. Rhodey really wanted to get rid of them entirely but that wouldn’t be appropriate here.

“Hey, Tones.” He reached out to take hold of Tony’s wrist, squeezing it gently. “Talk to me.”

Tony stared at him, expression blank for a too long moment before it twisted into exhaustion and tiredness. “Do I have to, platypus? I think I’ve earned a ‘no talking for the next year’ card.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Rhodey said gently, “but I’m here for you. You know that.”

Tony nodded, expression going distant. After several moments, he pulled in a shuddery breath and looked to Rhodey again. “Can you… I don’t want to talk about this. Not now.”

Rhodey didn’t have to ask Tony what he really wanted; it was written as clear as day on his face. “Do you mind at least telling me what that is?” He looked to the glowing device. “Might be useful for the guy who may have to call the shots on your treatment to know what it is.”

Tony looked down to it, expression weary and…heartsick? “It’s an arc reactor.”

Rhodey didn’t need more explanation than that, very familiar with the larger one in Malibu. “You miniaturized it?”

Tony’s smile was small and slightly proud. “Sure did.”

Rhodey squeezed his wrist. “And the reason it’s sitting in your chest and not in a facility where it belongs?”

Tony’s eyes shuttered, expression darkening. “It… You saw the scars.”

“You didn’t let them take your shirt off, buddy.” Rhodey softened his tone. “C’mon, Tones. Talk to me.”

A long minute later, Tony did, telling Rhodey he’d been hit with one of his own bombs, the shrapnel going right through the bulletproof vest – “Remind me to give it a redesign.” – and the fact that without the reactor, he’d be dead due to his heart being mangled by the shrapnel that couldn’t be removed in the cave by the _open heart surgery_ that had been performed on him.

Rhodey didn’t shut Tony down, just let him speak and squeezed his wrist reassuringly. He gave Tony a small smile at the end. “Thank you.” He didn’t apologize for what Tony had gone through. Tony wouldn’t want that, and that wasn’t what was needed here.

“I’ll ask you about the rest later,” Rhodey continued gently, “but for now let’s just stay right here like this, yeah?” He smiled at him. “I’ve spent long enough searching for you; I don’t really feel like starting again.”

Tony’s laugh was too broken to be truly genuine, but he gave Rhodey a weak smile that looked far too relieved. He didn’t pull away from where Rhodey was holding onto his wrist, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.

Rhodey remained right there in the chair that was probably too uncomfortable for humans to stay in for the long term. Joke was on them. Rhodey wasn’t human anymore.

* * *

With nothing other than a wrenched shoulder, some painful bruises, some truly magnificent sunburns, and the arc reactor in his chest, the doctors cleared Tony to leave after a day of observation. In that time, Rhodey had to field calls from both Pepper and Stane, who had been updated about Tony’s recovery. They both seemed worried and concerned and relieved for Tony’s wellbeing, though Rhodey was getting a general sense of sliminess from Stane.

That was nothing new. Even as a human Rhodey had disliked the man, and he’d had a good sense of who was bad and who was good. Sunset Bain had been _terrible_ , and he wasn’t even going to get into Tiberius Stone. No, he’d chased those two away before they could get their claws into Tony, but he hadn’t been able to do anything about Stane since he was Tony’s godfather and had been in his life longer than Rhodey had been.

But…sliminess… Rhodey was going to keep an eye on him. There was more he could do now, and he was going to take full advantage of it.

He was also taking advantage of being able to focus on something else other than the situation he’d found himself in. He made sure Tony rested and that the doctors had all the information they needed to know.

There may have also been an explosion on base, with the only fatalities the ones who had been with Rhodey on the recovery mission. Everyone else in the vicinity miraculously survived.

That took care of that, even if Rhodey felt a little guilty about the reason why they had died to begin with. It was his fault but it also wasn’t his fault.

In any case, it was a problem taken care of in a way that didn’t point fingers at him but did leave everyone panicked about the possibility of more happening. As a result, it had them put Tony on a plane back to the U.S. in no time, with Rhodey and a few other people as company.

Going back to the U.S. was another thing. Rhodey had obligations – a _job_. It wasn’t like he was a nobody janitor at a campus; he was a _lieutenant colonel_ in the _Air Force_. It carried a weight of responsibility that he couldn’t just shrug off even if he wanted to. And he…wasn’t sure he wanted to.

While he was here, Gabriel didn’t know _why_ he was here. There was no logical reason for Gabriel to be here other than what he was doing right now. And he didn’t really think babysitting a single human was cutting it; he was going to get bored. So bored. Humans – even ones he loved – were only so interesting.

No, he was going to continue keeping up his job in the Air Force, even though the idea of continuing to serve in a military capacity left him feeling a little uneasy. While the Air Force wasn’t like the stereotypes, it wasn’t _un_ like them either.

There was a strong focus on hierarchy, on following orders. As a lieutenant colonel, there weren’t many he’d have to listen to, but the chain of command still existed. It wasn’t anything he was unfamiliar with, but doing it under humans was going to be something else.

Well, if he didn’t like something, he could do something about it that he couldn’t before.

The worst part about it was that they were responsibilities that had a time limit. He couldn’t just stay around Tony and make sure he was doing okay. He had to leave him in the hands of others.

It was Pepper first, and Rhodey liked her. She was good for Tony – kept him on his toes and liked him as a person. Happy was there, too, and Rhodey liked him, too. He was a little too serious, but he did care for Tony, making sure he was okay. He was also one of the very few people Tony trusted behind the wheel, and that was worth so much.

Tony was planning something, though. Something he hadn’t told Rhodey about but it was so obvious. To Rhodey, anyway. Pepper seemed confused but was calling a press conference as requested.

It was there that Rhodey saw Stane for the first time since regaining his Grace. He was _slimy_. Not the worst Rhodey had seen, but the way his soul curled possessively around Tony’s – like he _owned_ him – and the tinge of darkness to his thoughts…

Rhodey wasn’t going to enjoy interacting with him longer than necessary, but he did the appropriate greetings and accepted the customary handshake before they were led inside. He ended up standing by both Stane and Pepper while Tony did his thing.

Tony’s thing was shutting down weapons production at his company, which wasn’t what Rhodey had expected but also absolutely delighted him because this wasn’t boring at all. This was _interesting_. He was going to rib Tony for this later but that was later.

His phone was already blowing up with calls because aside from being a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, he was also the liaison the Air Force had to Stark Industries. He could totally swing this to mean spending more time with Tony.

* * *

It took a few days before he could get something wrangled the human way, and by then Tony had locked himself up in his house and hadn’t left.

Rhodey had also gotten a few calls from his family about how Tony was doing and also how _he_ was doing.

“ _You been sleeping and eating now?_ ” Roberta Rhodes asked him. “ _You looked like a stick the last time I saw you, Jamie. I hope you’ve been taking care of yourself now that he’s back._ ”

“I am most definitely taking care of myself,” Rhodey assured her. “It’s all fine now.”

“ _Tony’s doing fine now, too? SI’s taken some hard hits._ ”

“Because people panic and don’t think,” Rhodey said mildly. “It’ll be fine. I’m going to check up on him now.”

There was a little bit more talk, followed by Terrence stealing the phone for a quick hello before Roberta stole it back and wished Rhodey all the best.

“I love you, too,” Rhodey said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Having human parents was weird. Having human parents who were so fussy and loved him so much was weirder. Gabriel knew that his Father loved all of them, but He had never been the kind to say it all that often. Or at all.

Gabriel couldn’t remember hearing an “I love you” from Him. It had just been a given.

That was kind of sad, wasn’t it?

Shaking the thought off, Rhodey pulled into Tony’s driveway, taking out the box of donuts he had procured for this specific occasion. Tony loved donuts and Rhodey loved them, too, so it was a literal win-win. You couldn’t go wrong with donuts.

Rhodey had keys, which was a good thing because he didn’t think Tony would answer the doorbell.

“Good afternoon, Colonel.”

Gabriel blinked, looking up to the ceiling at the sound of JARVIS and the feel of a very unfamiliar soul. He stilled, not moving as he looked past the circuitry and wires and saw _JARVIS_.

Tony was down in his workshop, three other unfamiliar souls accompanying him. Souls of the kind Gabriel had never seen before and did not feel like his Father’s handiwork.

“Colonel Rhodes?”

“Afternoon, JARVIS,” Gabriel responded on autopilot, not looking away from the light that was _JARVIS’s soul_. A soul he shouldn’t have because it had never existed before. “Tony presentable?”

“For a given value of presentable, certainly.” JARVIS sounded longsuffering and also a little hopeful. “He has not slept much or imbibed much of substance since sequestering himself.”

Donuts had been a good idea. “I’ll get some water.”

He could freak out about what had happened with JARVIS and Tony’s other bots later. When he wasn’t being watched by a too smart artificial intelligence. Nothing had happened for this long so he doubted anything would happen now just because he was aware of it.

Grabbing some water from the kitchen, which was full of food that had been restocked helpfully by JARVIS and clearly also hadn’t been touched by Tony, Rhodey headed down into the workshop to find Tony hard at work building what looked like a set of prosthetics for legs.

Tony didn’t notice him at first, which was fine because it meant Rhodey could go poking at some of the other things he’d clearly been working on. It looked like there were some prosthetics for arms as well, but they weren’t built the right way at all. Rhodey investigated them a bit longer, then went to poke at the half-built chest plate in another corner.

Butterfingers came to join him here, beeping cheerfully at him and thankfully not dropping anything on his toes like the last time. Rhodey gave Butterfingers’s arm a slow and ginger pat, eyeing the bright soul he now couldn’t ignore any longer. You and Dummy had similar bright souls, and it was just bizarre.

No, don’t focus on it now.

“Rhodey!” Tony had finally noticed his presence, looking utterly surprised. “What are you doing here? When did you get here?”

“I’ve always been here,” Rhodey said, turning away from the chest plate to go to Tony’s side. He offered the donuts, opening the box and taking a chocolate one. “Donut?”

Tony looked between Rhodey and the box of donuts. “You know that not every problem can be solved by donuts, right?”

“That sounds like a lie,” Rhodey said, biting into his donut. “They can be improved at least.”

Sighing, Tony took a jam-filled donut, setting down his tools as he did. “I’ve never gotten your thing with sweets and how you still manage to look like that despite the amount of candy you put away.”

Rhodey shrugged. “It’s a talent. Here’s water; JARVIS told me you haven’t had much since being down here.” He glanced to Tony’s work.

Tony made a face but took the water, chugging down half of it before he set it to the side. He rubbed a hand over his chest and the arc reactor, which looked slightly different from the last time Rhodey had seen it.

“You get some upgrades done?” Rhodey indicated the arc reactor.

Tony glanced down to it. “Considering I made it in a cave out of a bunch of scraps, an update was needed.”

Human ingenuity really was impressive. Then again, this was all _Tony_. “How about the rest of this here? You aiming to get into the medical industry with prosthetics?”

Tony used his donut as an excuse to not answer, which wouldn’t get him anywhere because Rhodey had infinite patience.

Rhodey went to poke at the leg Tony had been working on, noting that the leg seemed awfully advanced for a regular prosthetic.

“Don’t you have things to be doing?” Tony asked, batting away Rhodey’s hand from the leg. “Military things?”

“This is my military thing that I’m doing.” Rhodey side-stepped Tony to continue poking at the leg. “They think I’m here persuading you to make weapons again. The joke’s on them; I’m clearly abusing my privileges to see how my best friend’s doing.”

Tony was quiet for a few moments, digesting that. “I’m fine, Rhodey. You don’t need to fuss over me like a mother hen.”

Rhodey shrugged, investigating how the circuitry in the leg looked. “Great. You can be fine with me, then.”

Tony let out a small huffing sound, reaching for another donut. He didn’t resume work on the leg, mulishly chewing his way through the pastry.

Rhodey hid an amused smile that would just tick Tony off, turning his attention to some of the other things Tony had out. There were a lot of wires and a conductive material that would allow him to channel energy. It was very interesting and extremely high tech compared to his previous world, and he actually understood a lot of it because of his education as a human.

It took a good ten minutes for Tony to crack, and by that point Rhodey was gently fending an extremely enthusiastic Dummy off. “I thought you’d be upset about shutting down weapons. You were always so gung-ho about how much good I was doing the people.”

Rhodey pushed away Dummy’s claw, turning his attention away from the bot’s soul to focus on Tony. “I’m more concerned about you, Tony. I know you went through a lot. The arc reactor in your chest’s only a piece of it.”

Tony said nothing, arms folded over his chest.

“I’m here, you know,” Rhodey added. “I always will be.”

Tony rolled his eyes but didn’t protest, eyes turning to the leg. “I suppose since you’re here already… I’m working on something big – _really_ big. And it’s not going to be for the military.”

It took a little more prodding from Rhodey before the rest of the details came spilling out, including why he’d chosen to shut down weapons manufacturing. And to combat the terrorists and get his weapons back, Tony had decided to build a flying suit of armor.

Rhodey was _delighted_. “This is doubtlessly the coolest fucking thing you’ve done, Tones.”

Tony was looking pleased with himself. “It is, isn’t it.”

“You’ll have to show me what it looks like when you’re done,” Rhodey said.

“What do you take me for, platypus?” Tony grinned warmly at him. “You’re going to get an exclusive viewing of its debut.”

The “platypus” nickname meant something different now. It was funny that Tony had given him that one back in MIT – a consequence of a _very_ eventful trip to the zoo.

Rhodey shifted the conversation to what Tony was planning on putting in the suit, making sure that he drank the rest of his water and also had a few more donuts. He was going to need to get something more nutritious later but donuts would do the trick for now.

There was something very familiar about everything here, but he hadn’t yet managed to figure out what it was. It would probably come to him later.

* * *

His superiors weren’t very pleased with him when he came back to basically report that Tony was doing nothing for the military beyond finishing up current contracts. Rhodey didn’t say they could bite him but he was pretty sure the message got across on some level.

Tony continued building and testing his suit of armor, hitting things in his workshop as he did. It was both horrifying and hilarious. Rhodey made sure he didn’t get seriously injured, because holy shit, Tony, _don’t blow yourself into the ceiling_. The only reason Tony hadn’t had a serious concussion or other broken bone from that was because of yours truly.

The old arc reactor made its way into the workshop at some point in a funny case that said PROOF TONY STARK HAS A HEART. It reeked of Pepper, and Rhodey looked at it briefly before setting it aside and continuing to bug Tony about his suit and safety protective measures.

He was a human. He was squishy and delicate and Gabriel didn’t feel like angering Death to resurrect him if Tony accidentally got himself killed. Tony had been lucky so far but now Gabriel was _invested_.

Not that he hadn’t been invested before, but there were different levels of investment and Rhodey had jumped several levels now that he wasn’t human anymore.

Gabriel probably would risk angering Death to revive Tony, actually. That was…

He chose not to think about that and instead focused on the fact that he seemed to have landed himself in a world that ran on comic book levels of science. It was still somewhat rational, but there were definite comic book vibes here.

Extreme vibes. He considered this as he munched on some chocolate while hearing Tony whoop on his first proper test flight of the armor. He had a first class view of the sight thanks to the cameras on the suit streaming directly to the workshop courtesy of JARVIS.

It meant he also had a first class view of everything going dead when the suit iced over because Tony went too high.

He didn’t panic. Rhodey did _not_ panic.

“I have lost contact with the suit,” JARVIS said, sounding remarkably calm for someone who was radiating worry.

Rhodey could feel Tony plummeting, but the suit’s systems kicked back online in time for him to save himself from a crash landing. “Tony? You good there?”

“Fine, fine! Absolutely fine!” Tony sounded breathless, but his vitals were all good.

Rhodey hadn’t panicked, but he nevertheless breathed out a sigh of relief. “Then get back here before we have another incident on our hands. You might want to fix that icing issue there while you’re at it.”

Tony laughed breathlessly, and Rhodey could all too easily picture his broad grin as he said, “What do you take me for, Rhodey? I’ve already got ideas.”

“Do those ideas here, genius.”

“Touchy, touchy. Be right there.”

Rhodey continued munching on his chocolate while he waited for Tony to arrive, idly watching the feed from the suit. He saw the mansion coming up, along with how Tony slowly went to land on the roof.

He got a front row seat to the sight of Tony crashing through the roof, his piano, and then through the ceiling of the workshop and directly on top of one of his prized cars because the house’s roof had never been designed to take the full weight of Tony _and_ a metal suit.

Rhodey sidled over to him, doing nothing as Dummy turned and gleefully started spraying Tony with the fire extinguisher. “So. How we doing?”

The faceplate slid up, Tony giving Rhodey a glare that wasn’t remotely amused.

Rhodey grinned down at him, waving Dummy off before he could turn the extinguisher onto him. “Need help?”

Tony was still glaring at him even as Rhodey heaved him up onto his feet, the armor's joints whirring with the effort. Rhodey didn’t even bother hiding his laughter this time. It was what Tony deserved.

* * *

Something was definitely weird here but he hadn’t yet figured it out. He had time; he’d figure it out later.

Mind, he still hadn’t figured it out several months later, but it was all cool because he was relaxing without the stress of an impending apocalypse breathing down his neck. It was achingly _lonely_ here – so quiet without the Host – but it was also so much safer than his old world. Even so, Gabriel would much rather take the company of his siblings.

He just hoped the Winchester brothers had managed to figure out the clue he’d given them about the rings and kicked Lucifer’s ass back to the Cage. Michael… He wasn’t sure what they would have done with Michael. He might have ended up in the Cage, too. Michael wasn’t one to stop once his mind was set on something.

At least there were other things to occupy his time here. It wasn’t the same as being the Trickster or Loki in his old world, but it was…better? In a sense? He had eventually _become_ Loki and the Trickster in that other world, but it had taken time to settle into those names and the identities. It was the opposite with Rhodey because he _was_ Rhodey. He’d been Rhodey before touching the tree and he was still Rhodey even now.

There was significantly less backstabbing here and he could feel the genuine love Tony had for him. As Loki, he hadn’t had much of that, though that mostly been his own fault. As the Trickster…there had been nothing.

So this was nice. Very nice.

Even the Air Force shindig wasn’t terrible. Gabriel was used to operating in an environment like that. It was just…dull because it was boring.

It was why he liked spending so much time with Tony. The human was a _riot_. An absolute mass of chaos incarnate who was also one of the most brilliant humans he had ever seen. There were very few humans of Tony Stark’s caliber, not that Gabriel would ever tell him so.

But Rhodey couldn’t spend all his time with Tony. He had official lieutenant colonel duties to take care of, such as training greenies in the art of computers and how to not blow things up that shouldn’t be blown up. And maybe also make sure that there was nothing fishy going on because the military did take in some of the worst. He’d already kicked out some rapists who had gotten off scot free before.

It did mean that when Tony took the suit out for an actual transatlantic flight Rhodey was absolutely not prepared for anything that ensued. Like Tony getting into a fight with two jets and winning.

It had only been a few days since the previous suit incident with the roof, the piano, and the car. If Gabriel were anyone else, he would have lamented the human tendency for chaos. Instead, he was just amused. Definitely not worried.

It was a very good thing Rhodey was aware of the suit and what Tony was doing. It meant that he could spin damage control and then go and hunt down Tony to make sure he was fine.

Which he was. He only had a few bruises from being shot at in a flying suit of armor, but he also seemed to be super pissed off at everything, going so far as to snap at Rhodey when he came into the workshop.

It was cute, but Rhodey would never tell him so because that was demeaning and Tony had a legitimate reason to be upset. Instead, he asked him what was wrong – to please talk to him.

It took Tony a bit to crack and show Rhodey the pictures of Gulmira. “I had to do it, Rhodey. They had my weapons – they were about to kill _kids_. I couldn’t… I had to do it.”

“I’m not saying it was wrong.” Rhodey looked up from the pictures to where Tony was sitting on his chair, nursing his bruises with several ice packs. “You’re like a dog with a bone when you’re after something, Tones. I’m not going to stop you here, but please… _Talk_ to me.”

Tony stared at him, eyes dark. “I thought you’d be upset. Pepper wasn’t happy to see what I was doing.”

That didn’t surprise him. He’d gotten a call from Pepper prior to coming here with her pleading for him to please talk some sense into Tony.

She’d always been the super responsible one who’d groaned and rolled her eyes at whatever he and Tony had gotten into. People always thought Rhodey was the responsible one, but they completely failed to see that he and Tony were best friends for a _reason_. Pepper had apparently forgotten that or at least hoped that Rhodey would side with her on this.

“I’m not upset,” Rhodey said honestly, setting the pictures down on the nearest table. “I’m definitely worried, but that’s more because you got into a firefight with two jets with an untested suit. I…” He sighed, leaning back against the table. “Would I rather you be safe and sound and not sticking your neck in danger? Yes. Do I think that’s likely to happen? No. You’ve got your mind set on this, and I’m going to be right there with you.”

Tony broke eye contact, looking down to the floor. “I need to do the right thing. I haven’t done it in so long… I _need_ to do this. Fix what I broke – be _better_ than who I was.” He looked back up to Rhodey. “You always said I was squandering my talent, not being who you knew I could be. This is – this is me trying, Rhodey.”

There was a twist in his Grace as he listened to Tony speak, unknowingly echoing Gabriel’s own self recriminations. He hadn’t done anything for so long either, refusing to stand against his siblings, just going with the flow… It had been out of self-preservation, but he should have done something sooner.

“I know you are,” Rhodey told Tony. “You don’t have to convince me of anything, Tony. I’m on your side here.”

Tony smiled weakly up at him, then looked back to the pictures. “You know someone’s double dealing in the company,” he said, shifting an ice pack around to lay more fully against his shoulder. “I – I’ve been looking, trying to find out who it is. And…” He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Obie said something last night at the fundraiser. He…he filed for the injunction, trying to get me shut out of the company.”

Rhodey didn’t move, breathing through the slight surge of anger at the mention of Stane. “Do you think he has something to do with it?”

It was a moment before Tony shrugged, still not looking to Rhodey. “I don’t know. I…I sent Pepper to get information since if I go there now, it would just raise eyebrows. She’ll be back soon, and by then I’ll know for sure.”

Rhodey leaned forward, resting a hand on Tony’s shoulder to squeeze it. “If he _is_ responsible, I reserve the right to punch his face in.”

Tony let out a startled huff of laughter, looking up to him now. “Not to tell me ‘I told you so’?”

“Of course not.” Rhodey slowly withdrew, straightening up. “We don’t make assumptions on gut feelings, do we?”

Tony looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Really.”

“Oh yes. Absolutely.”

“I seem to recall someone making decisions based on gut feelings multiple times and in fact _encouraging_ me to follow _my_ gut feelings.”

“I was right, wasn’t I? Stone and Bain were pieces of shit not fit to see the sun, and look at Stane. Maybe Stane. Jury’s still out on that one.”

Tony’s smile was more bitter than amused, and he dropped his gaze again. “For now.”

Rhodey stepped up next to Tony, ruffling his slicked back hair and ignoring Tony’s indignant protest until it looked a little better. “No matter what happens, I got your back. Remember that.”

Tony twisted away from Rhodey’s hand, making a face and doing his best to flatten the mess Rhodey had made of his hair. “How can I forget when you keep reminding me, honey bear?”

“Someone seems to have the memory of a goldfish.” Rhodey ignored the part of him that said goldfish didn’t have _that_ bad of a memory; it was irrelevant to the point at hand. “I’ll keep reminding you until it sinks through your thick skull.” He rapped his knuckles very lightly against Tony’s head.

There was another indignant protest, and this time Tony swatted his hand away.

Rhodey grinned at him, flicking his fingers against his forehead and sending the faintest surge of Grace through him to heal the worst of his injuries.

He had Tony’s back, but it was probably for the best that Tony didn’t realize what exactly that meant.

* * *

Despite how much fun it would be, Rhodey couldn’t actually spend every single hour with Tony. He had a life and a job of his own, one that was demanding increasingly more of him now that he was back stateside and no longer hunting down rumors of his best friend in a desert. However, he did still have free time, and he was using that free time to spend time with Tony.

He had another box of donuts in his car and was fully intending on doing something like a movie night if he could pull Tony away from his workshop. Or maybe they’d just watch the movie in the workshop. Tony had enough cars and holographs everywhere down there.

He was contemplating what horrible movie he could spring on Tony when Pepper called him. “Hey, Pepper—”

Pepper’s panicked voice cut off whatever else he could have said, rambling in a panicked stream of consciousness. “ _Oh God, Rhodey, Tony’s not answering the phone. I called and he picked up but he never said anything and then it hung up and I just found out Obadiah is responsible – he paid for the Ten Rings – for Tony to be hurt in Afghanistan – and he has a **suit** and I can’t get hold of Tony!_”

Rhodey let most of the noise wash over him, registering only the most important parts of the message. That Stane was responsible and Tony was very likely in danger.

“I’ve got it handled,” Rhodey said, his voice sounding distant to his own ears. He was already reaching – stretching out for _Tony_. He found him in his Malibu house in pain and very nearly on the verge of death because his _arc reactor was missing_. He hung up without another word, which he might feel bad about later but for right now he was focused on getting to Tony as fast as possible.

Rhodey didn’t feel at all ashamed about flying right there, car and everything in tow. He tore into the house, making a direct beeline to where he found Tony staggering slowly and painfully towards the elevator that would lead him to his workshop. He was still alive, and his eyes widened when he saw Rhodey.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Rhodey barely spared a glance to dark hole in Tony’s chest where the arc reactor was missing. “I got you.”

Not letting Tony protest, Rhodey hauled him up in his arms, not making an effort at making it seem like it was giving him trouble.

There was no sign of JARVIS, though he could feel him at the very periphery of his senses. It felt almost like he’d been knocked out, so that meant Stane must have taken him offline.

Rhodey breathed through another surge of fury, taking the stairs. Tony hadn’t fixed the broken glass yet, so that meant he could just walk right in and get to the older arc reactor that Pepper had given him.

“Put – put it in,” Tony gasped, ashen and dripping with sweat. His heart was stuttering, its rhythm entirely out of whack.

Rhodey set him down, getting the reactor out and then slamming it in. It clicked into place and hummed to life with a satisfying blue glow. At the same time, Tony shuddered, heaving in a large breath.

He clutched at Rhodey’s arms, breathing too rapid to be healthy for a human. Rhodey made a small shhing sound, hoping that would work here.

Tony’s breathing didn’t calm, so that didn’t work. It was a failure.

Okay, fine. Rhodey instead opted for patting at Tony’s cheek, not wanting to use Grace to push calm into him. It would be too much, and he was sure Tony could get a grip on things.

“I got you,” Rhodey told him again, and this seemed to do the trick. Tony’s breathing started slowing, his eyes blown black as he looked up at Rhodey. “I told you I got you, Tones.”

There was a soft whirring sound, and then Dummy tapped his claw against Rhodey’s shoulder. You and Butterfingers crowded behind him, all of them radiating concern.

“Your dad’s okay,” Rhodey said, keeping his voice calm. “He’s going to be just fine.”

“I’m fine,” Tony wheezed, not sounding fine at all.

“Yeah, you’re going to be.” Rhodey patted his cheek again, this time using a small trickle of Grace to ease the worst of the pain. “Can I get you up or do you just want to lie here and contemplate the ceiling a little longer?”

Dazed, Tony blinked at him. It didn’t last long. From one moment to the next, awareness filtered back in and he was jolting upright, attempting to push Rhodey out of the way. He met solid resistance for an instance before Rhodey forced himself to melt and move with the push.

Tony didn’t seem to notice, staggering to his feet while using Rhodey’s shoulder as a cane.

Sighing, Rhodey helped him up, keeping hold of an elbow to help Tony keep his balance. Humans were so damn weird sometimes. Tony wasn’t anywhere near okay enough to be doing this but here he was, but he was doing it nonetheless because that was how he was.

“Obie – Stane – I have to stop him.” Tony pulled away from him, hands falling on the nearest table for balance. “He’s – he knows Pepper knows; she’s in danger.”

“I just spoke with Pepper,” Rhodey said, hovering right by Tony’s side in case he suddenly keeled over. “She was more worried about you.”

“She doesn’t know!” Tony snapped, whirling to Rhodey. He staggered at the movement, blinking and falling back heavily onto the table as he braced himself. He waved Rhodey’s hands off, repeating, “She doesn’t know. And I sent her right into the lion’s den.”

“I’ll call her,” Rhodey said soothingly. “And you should sit down—”

“No, no, I have to get out there. He has a suit; he has the _arc reactor_. I need to get there and make sure Pepper’s safe.”

Why were humans _like this_? “You don’t have to do this,” he tried. “Tony, I’m here, too—”

“No.” Tony shook his head, looking up to him with too wide eyes and a twisted mouth. “You’ve spent too long cleaning up after me, Rhodey.” His voice was soft. “I’ve spent too long not taking responsibility for my actions and too long shoving my messes onto others to clean up. Obie, Pepper… _you_. Hell, the only one who’s been dealing with me longer than you is Obie, and that’s just not fair. I can do this – I _need_ to do this.”

Humans…were pretty damn amazing. Rhodey stared at him wordlessly, once more speechless because of a human and how extraordinary he was.

“You don’t need to,” Rhodey said eventually, holding Tony’s gaze. “I can do this for you. I said I had your back.”

“I know you do.” Tony reached out to clasp Rhodey’s arm. “But I haven’t done as good a job of having your back. You’ve always been there for me, always pushing me to be better than what I was. Please…let me do that here. Let me be better.”

If Rhodey pushed here, he could convince Tony to let him handle it. He could do that with the right words. But it wouldn’t be right. This was Tony’s job, and he was fit enough to do this.

Even though he hated it.

He slowly nodded, sighing. “You’ve got it, Tones.” He smiled at him, stepping back slightly to give Tony space. “But I’ve got your back, and I’m going to be there soon as possible, okay?”

“I know you do.” Tony grinned at him, then he was gone in a whirlwind of action and quickly barked out orders as he set up the machinery to get the armor ready.

Rhodey watched this for a bit, glancing to the silver armor that Tony had been building on the side. It was half-built, the legs missing and most of the internal circuitry not ready either. Tony hadn’t said, but Rhodey had the strong suspicion it was meant for him, which was really sweet and also very cool.

He could make something like that himself, but he would never have thought to do so.

Once Tony was almost ready, Rhodey left, slipping back upstairs. Before he headed outside, he brought JARVIS back online. If he didn’t do it, Tony would have to do it later and he’d worry.

In the time it took for JARVIS to boot up, Rhodey was gone, stepping outside in time to see Tony blasting off in the suit. There was no way he was going to get there in time if he took his car, but he wasn’t restricted to only human methods of travel at this point.

Tony had taken the time to find out where Stane was heading, though Rhodey didn’t need the aid of that kind of technology to locate the man’s soul and fly there. Pepper was on site, as well as some men Rhodey hadn’t met before. She seemed to have enough backup despite the large suit that was running after her, so Rhodey turned his attention to Tony.

He stayed out of sight altogether, not wanting to deal with questions. His attention was on Tony and the aerial battle happening over their heads.

There was so much desperation and betrayal and _grief_ from Tony, while there was nothing but greed and determination from Stane. A cold determination to kill Tony and take everything from him.

Gabriel could let this happen. He could just let Tony and Stane have it out and let Tony do what he needed to do here. It would be the appropriate thing to do, wouldn’t it?

…But he’d never been one to be appropriate, and Tony was _his_. Tony was his to protect and maybe not his actual brother but he was one of the closest things Gabriel had to family here.

Stane and Tony were out of sight for human eyes, but Gabriel could see them tens of thousands of feet in the air – at the point where Tony’s armor had iced up during his first test flight. Rhodey looked up to the two of them, at Stane chasing after Tony, and he closed his eyes and _ripped_ into every single system on Stane’s cannibalized suit.

It was seconds before the suit plummeted into view for the humans watching the spectacle. It was several seconds more before the suit hit the ground in the parking lot with a thundering crash, splintering concrete and sending dust spewing everywhere. And, amazingly enough, Stane was still alive, cushioned in the safety of the suit.

Tony was descending slowly, the outdated arc reactor in his chest sputtering and trying to keep up with the suit’s energy requirements, but he was going to reach the ground safely if he didn’t do anything outrageous.

Stane’s suit was thoroughly destroyed inside and out and was being _very_ cautiously and slowly approached by the men who were with Pepper. Gabriel stepped forward as well, keeping himself just out of sight for the meantime. He stepped over large cracks in the concrete and past overturned cars, coming to a stop right by Stane’s masked head.

The men were still a ways off, having been sheltering by the wall of the building when Stane landed, so it gave Gabriel enough time to crouch and wrench off the mask, revealing Stane’s pale and bloodied face. Cushioning or not, a fall from that height would not have been comfortable. He made himself visible to Stane, smiling at him when the man locked eyes with him.

“R-Rhodes.” Stane’s voice was weak with pain.

“Stane.” Gabriel looked down at the mask, then back up at Stane, raising an eyebrow. “You always were riding on Tony’s coattails.”

Stane’s expression was uncomprehending as he looked up at Gabriel. “Wh-what are – are you doing? Help…me up.” He drew in a painful sounding breath. “This – this is all a misunderstanding.”

“None of it was ever a misunderstanding,” Gabriel said softly, throwing the mask to the ruined ground next to Stane’s head. The clang as it hit the cement had Stane flinching. “Nothing you ever did. It was all calculated to send Tony right over the edge – keep him exactly where you wanted him. I have to give you kudos for that; not many would be able to do it for that long.”

“Rhodes, you’re not making sense.” Stane stared up at him with wide eyes.

“You tried to kill him,” Gabriel said mildly. He leaned forward enough to grab hold of the glowing arc reactor in Stane’s chest piece, pulling it out with another wrench, taking out a chunk of metal as he did. He met Stane’s eyes, smiling once more. “I’m normally a little more merciful, but the time for mercy is past.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Stane gasped out, fear written all over his face.

Gabriel brushed two fingers over Stane’s forehead, still smiling at him. “I dare. An eye for an eye, Obadiah Stane. Tony’s better off without you.”

Stane wheezed, eyes pinching in pain. It was another moment before he jerked in the confines of the suit, eyes turned up to the sky and mouth open in a silent gasp. His eyes slid over to Gabriel, a silent and terrified question in them.

Gabriel tilted his head in his direction, standing and brushing his hands off on his jeans. He stepped away, moving through the agents who were just now reaching Stane.

He hummed under his breath, pleased. He stepped to the side, well out of sight of any agents as he slipped back into human sight.

He had the arc reactor in hand, though it was still attached to parts of the chest piece. He detached it from the mess, discarding it to the side as he approached Pepper and Tony, who had safely made it to the ground and was being deterred from going anywhere by a very frantic Pepper.

“I have to go, Pepper,” Tony was saying. “Obie – Stane, I need—”

“You don’t need to go anywhere!” Pepper shouted, jabbing him in the shoulder. “These men from S.W.O.R.D. have it handled!”

“S.H.I.E.L.D.,” the nondescript agent next to her corrected patiently.

Pepper shot him a glare that said his contribution was unwelcome at this point. The man turned away with a repressed smile, which disappeared the moment he saw Rhodey approaching them.

Tony caught sight of him, too, expression brightening. “Rhodey! You’re here! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Tucking the arc reactor out of sight, Rhodey came up to Tony’s other side, lightly but firmly gripping hold of an elbow. The metal of the suit was cool to the touch. “I’m more worried about you, buddy.” He indicated the flickering arc reactor in the suit, which was the direct cause for Tony’s ashen face.

“I’m fine,” Tony answered dismissively, looking over Rhodey’s shoulder to where the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were swarming around Stane’s fallen suit. “I have to get to Stane.”

“Rest assured, Mr. Stark, we have it handled,” the agent said. “In the meantime, you really should get checked out.”

Tony turned on him, clearly irritated. “Excuse me, who are you again? You’re not necessary here.”

The agent’s bland face didn’t twitch. “Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.” He smiled. “You can call us S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony didn’t look amused. “That would mean more if I actually knew what that stood for. I suppose I have you to thank for Pepper’s safety here, but Stane is none of your concern.”

“We deal with threats that are a little out of the normal authorities’ area of expertise,” Agent Coulson explained, still with that blankly polite smile pasted on his face. “I doubt they’re equipped to handle a man with Stane’s…arsenal.” He swept his eyes over Tony’s suited form.

“Neither are you,” Tony said coldly. “That suit is private property, so your men had better leave their hands off it.”

“ _Tony_ ,” Pepper snapped, “you need to sit down and let yourself get checked out. Let Agent Coulson and his men handle this. Rhodey and I can make sure they stay in line.”

Rhodey could. Messing with the suits would even be fun. “Sure can.” He pulled insistently at Tony’s elbow, drawing his attention. “And you, mister, need to sit down. I didn’t pull your ass out of the fire just for you to drop it back in there. Sit down before you have another heart attack.”

Pepper’s head snapped towards Rhodey in alarm. “Another?” she demanded. “When did he have one before?”

Tony’s hand fell to Rhodey’s where he was holding onto Tony’s elbow, squeezing it in warning. “You don’t remember, Pepper? It involved hands in tight spaces and goo.”

Pepper’s face screwed up in disgust. “Ugh, _Tony_. Do not. Remind me of that.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, shoving at Tony and putting some strength behind it so he stumbled backwards. “Sit down, you idiot.”

“You know what. I’d love to, except that there are no chairs here.”

Tony had a definite point there, so Rhodey dragged him over to one of the metal benches that were outside of this particular building. It creaked alarmingly under Tony’s weight but did hold. Pepper eyed it worriedly but said nothing. She worried at her lower lip, frowning anxiously.

There were protests, but they were more show than anything serious. Tony was clearly exhausted and in pain and also worried about Stane.

Speaking of whom… One of the agents came up to talk to Agent Coulson, speaking to him in low voices. Agent Coulson’s face was impressively blank as he looked over to where Stane had fallen, speaking to the agent once more before dismissing him and heading over to where Rhodey, Tony, and Pepper were.

“What is it?” Tony demanded the instant Agent Coulson drew close.

Agent Coulson sighed, meeting Tony’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. My agents have just informed me that Obadiah Stane is dead.” His tone was gentle. “It appears to have been a heart attack from what they could discern in his final moments.”

Tony’s expression was blank, no emotion present. He was absolutely still, just blinking silently at Agent Coulson.

Rhodey rested a hand on the back of Tony’s neck, the only place he could touch where Tony could feel him doing so. It had been what Stane deserved. He wished he could have been a little more elaborate about it, but time had been short, and sometimes the simplest solutions were the best. Stane didn’t deserve much better.

At the touch, Tony moved, blinking up to Rhodey. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shut it, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

“He’s dead?” Pepper’s tone was shocked.

Agent Coulson nodded. “Yes.”

Pepper blinked, glancing down to a silent Tony and then up to Rhodey before looking back to Agent Coulson. “I… You said it was a heart attack?”

Agent Coulson glanced to Tony as well before responding, clearly attempting to be tactful. “It would require an autopsy to be certain, but that was what my agents were able to determine.”

Rhodey squeezed the back of Tony’s neck reassuringly. The blankness he was feeling from him was beginning to fade, transitioning to a stunned sort of horror and grief. The empathy for a man who had just tried to kill him was admirable, though all Rhodey could feel about it was vicious satisfaction.

“The medics are en route,” Agent Coulson told Pepper. “They will be able to help Mr. Stark.”

“Good. Thank you, Agent Coulson.” Pepper drew in a large breath. “We will have to determine what to do about Stane. Oh God, this is going to tank our stocks.” She pressed a hand to her face.

“We can take him into custody for now,” Agent Coulson offered, “and make sure that you have an airtight story for whatever you wish to release to the press.”

Pepper shot him a look. “You would do that?”

“That is part of our job, Ms. Potts.”

“What _is_ your job precisely?” Tony muttered, eyes on the ground. His breathing was a little too labored to be healthy, and his heart was skipping too many beats to be good. Rhodey eased a small trickle of Grace into him, enough to keep him going until he could get that arc reactor swapped out.

“Whatever it needs to be,” Agent Coulson answered, which was absolutely not an answer at all.

“That’s not an answer,” Rhodey said, absolutely not grinning. Agent Coulson didn’t harbor Tony any ill will, which was a point in his favor, but he wasn’t about to rib him when Tony was feeling uncharitable.

Agent Coulson simply smiled politely at him, offering a small shrug. “I will let the medics know where to find you. Excuse me.” He turned around and walked off, joining his men at the site of Stane’s body.

Rhodey waited until he was well out of earshot before bringing out Tony’s better arc reactor and handing it over. “Tones. I think you need this.”

Tony stared blankly at it, then looked up to Rhodey. “Rhodey…?”

“I said I’d have your back, didn’t I? I got it from his suit after he crash landed.”

“You did what?” Pepper sounded alarmed.

“It was fine,” Rhodey said, not looking to her. “The suit was completely dead; something must have fried in the fight.”

Tony slowly took the glowing arc reactor from Rhodey, expression blank. “Was he…?”

“Alive? Probably.” Rhodey squeezed the underside of Tony’s hand before pulling away. “We didn’t have much to say to each other, and I needed to get out of the way. I just didn’t want them getting their hands on that.” He nodded to the arc reactor.

“…Thank you.” Tony breathed in, holding the reactor more firmly. The arc reactor in his chest flickered dimly, and he winced.

“Can it be swapped out now?” Pepper asked anxiously.

“Not in the suit.” Tony covered the flickering arc reactor with a hand. “I have to take it off, and that’s…going to be fun.” He winced again, looking down at the beaten up suit.

“We’ll get it taken care of,” Rhodey said reassuringly. He’d make sure of it.

The medics were on site in a few more minutes, quickly heading over to Tony to fuss over him. They were related to S.H.I.E.L.D., which meant no questions about the suit beyond how they could get it off him as quickly as possible.

Rhodey and Pepper were left with beaten up pieces of suit in their possession as Tony was carted off for proper medical care. The other agents had by now dealt with Stane, so it fell on them to make sure that the suit didn’t disappear into the bowels of S.H.I.E.L.D. Or, rather, it fell on Rhodey, since he was the most familiar with it.

Pepper went off to find Tony and make sure he followed medical advice while Rhodey took care of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s curiosity about the suit, confiscating absolutely everything he could get his hands on. And some things that they’d squirreled away already. There wasn’t anything they could hide from him.

At the end, they found themselves back at Tony’s house. Tony had been discharged with pain meds and strict orders to rest that he would throw out the window.

Pepper looked exhausted, falling into a slumped heap on the couch. Tony wasn’t much better, but he insisted on checking up on JARVIS. JARVIS was shaken and upset by what had happened earlier but otherwise fine, seeming more concerned about Tony.

Rhodey lingered at the sides, keeping a watchful eye on Tony while also fending off Dummy. He patted idly at Dummy’s arm, occasionally curiously touching Dummy’s soul. It was…

It felt like him. Like Gabriel. Not his Father but _Gabriel_.

It was the oddest thing, especially since Rhodey hadn’t built them. It had been Tony for all of the bots. Rhodey had only had the occasional input in their code when Tony had gotten stuck, offering advice when needed.

Had that little bit of input influenced them like this? _How_?

At the very least, it didn’t seem like his Father was upset about this, and He absolutely had to be aware of it. There was no way He couldn’t be.

Gabriel wasn’t going to worry about it at this point. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, and it didn’t matter. The AIs were incredibly sweet and attached to Tony and very fond of Rhodey by extension. Gabriel loved them, too; it was impossible not to.

And he loved Tony. It was a love born from who he had been before and who he still was now, but it was there, and it mattered. He loved Tony and was going to protect him, whether through human or angelic means.

There was nothing else he could do here in this world with no Heaven or Hell or other supernatural beings like him. With the absence of any particular purpose, Gabriel would have to make up his own.

It wasn’t the first time he had done so or the first time he felt so lost about it all, but that didn’t make things any easier. At least here he already had friends, even if those friends only knew him as Rhodey.

Tony glanced over in his direction, grinning brilliantly when he caught his eyes.

Rhodey grinned back, patting at Dummy’s arm one more time before he headed over to Tony to drag him upstairs for some of that prescribed rest.

They had a press conference scheduled tomorrow about the mess that had happened tonight. The amount of property damage on a Stark Industries property and the blurry pictures on Twitter of flying suits dueling in midair meant that they’d need to give a statement sooner rather than later.

Tony was definitely looking sore the next morning, bruises on his face that Pepper was artfully covering with makeup as they got ready for the press conference. Rhodey was dressed in his military uniform because he unfortunately had to be all official about this. He looked damn nice in it but ugh.

Agent Coulson dropped by with a set of note cards for Tony to follow about the tragic accident Stane had perished in while overseeing a lab experiment that involved the flying suits. Obviously neither of them had been Tony but rather a bodyguard. Tony looked dissatisfied with this, holding a newspaper that had one of those blurry Twitter photos with a headline screaming about the unknown Iron Man.

The name niggled at Rhodey’s memory, bugging at that weird feeling that he’d had for a while. What _was_ it about this place that felt familiar?

It was still niggling at him when they went out in front of the reporters, Rhodey on Tony’s right side. Pepper stayed behind with Agent Coulson, the two of them reminding Tony to stick to the script.

Rhodey was unconcerned about the script. Nothing ever went according to script, anyway, so it was useless to worry.

When Tony faltered, Rhodey just gave him a nod and an encouraging smile. It seemed to bolster him, because the next thing Rhodey knew, Tony was saying, “The truth is…I am Iron Man.”

It clicked like a light bulb for Gabriel at that point, the flashing cameras of the reporters matching exactly what had just happened for him.

Fucking hell. His Father had literally dropped him into a _comic book universe_.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway...thoughts?


End file.
